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Though I have been lucky to handle untold quantities of pistols over the years, I’d never consider myself an expert on the subject. I am a gun nut though, and that is the only qualification I can claim expertise in. I love a good pistol the same as the next guy, and today I’d like to present another new-to-me pistol: The Ruger EC9.

The EC9

I owned a Ruger pistol once, back in the nineties, the P89 was the first pistol I ever owned. It worked great for what I needed at the time, and it met my skill level which was none. Ruger has changed quite a bit since then, as have pistols in general. Entry level pistols akin to my old P89 are everywhere and many of them nowadays are polymer framed, as are many CCW pistols.

The EC9 is one of those, a striker-fired compact CCW type pistol that uses a single-stack magazine to keep it thin and easy to conceal. It utilizes a slender steel slide with rounded edges to avoid snagging on clothing. It features both a manual safety and a trigger safety, the blade type that deactivates the trigger safety when the trigger is properly pressed. The gun uses a seven round magazine. Ruger also offers a ten round extended magazine with additional grip area added to the bottom as well.

Un-boxing

Upon receiving the EC9, I promptly opened the box eager to see what lay inside. There I found the Cobalt slate blue framed EC9. Shipped with a magazine, chamber-flag, a standard throwaway lock. As well as a strange orange magazine that appeared to be for training or something. More on that later.
Straight into the palm of my hand went the little pistol, to see how it felt. My initial concern about the gun was it’s size; would it fit in my hand properly? It did feel a bit small, which was no surprise, but it was certainly serviceable.

I gave the pistol a vigorous course of draw and point exercises. Which quickly began to give me the feel for this gun. Drawing the slide back I familiarized myself with the controls of the EC9. I found it to be a pretty stiff little pistol, the recoil spring is quite stout in my opinion.

Controls

The slide release is located in the typical location for the thumb to operate, and behind that there is a safety. Initial inspection of the gun made it quite apparent that Ruger was aiming for the CCW crowd with this model. The trim control surfaces were very subtle to avoid snags.

The magazine release sits at the front edge of the left grip area, and again it is fairly diminutive to avoid inadvertent release of the magazine. The sights are machined into the slide, making them both robust and un-adjustable. I purchased the extra ten round magazine to utilize in this pistol review, mainly because I figured it would help me hold onto it better.

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Pistol controls, front to back: disassembly opening, slide release, and two position safety at the rear.

GOIN’ HOT ON INITIAL RANGE THOUGHTS

With a bucket of 115-grain FMJ ammo in hand, I headed out to the desert to see how this pistol runs. After loading the magazine, I pointed the pistol downrange at my target and started squeezing. As it often happens, we ran through a lot more ammo than I anticipated in a short amount of time. Which is a good time to point out, since with seven-round magazines you spend a lot of time loading.

The **extended 10 round magazine** gives more purchase for those with larger hands.

My very first impression as the little Ruger barked and how much more recoil I could feel when compared to my other pistols. Obviously, this is a 9mm, so I’m not talking about a ton of recoil, just noticeably more than what I am used to. That is to be expected though. A smaller pistol is not going to buck recoil like a heavier full-size pistol will.

Shop all the Ruger EC9 models at Palmetto State Armory

The trigger-pull seemed a smidge longer than I would have liked, but again this model is aimed at concealed carry users. The reset was also longer than I would have liked, requiring a good sweep both fore and aft to keep this little lead pump humming. I’m not a huge fan of trigger safeties, but I did find that this one was hardly noticeable.

MORE ROUNDS AND A FRESH PERSPECTIVE

We continued to bang through more ammo than we should have with the EC9s, and it didn’t take long for me to start forming a few opinions on it. But before I did, I wanted to get some additional hands on the gun. Particularly my wife’s hands. She has much more petite hands, and I wanted to see how the pistol met her stature. Just as importantly, I wanted to see how she felt about the gun. Guns are still a bit new to her, but nevertheless, I was interested in her beginner’s perspective.

She took no time in getting used to the grip of the EC9s, and she was slapping targets after some modest instruction. We did discover some challenges for smaller shooters. The grip and pull required to draw the slide was a bit of a challenge for her, as I mentioned above the gun is quite stiff. But even with her smaller hands, she was able to grip the pistol properly and run the gun effectively.

Firearms Depot also has a full selection of Ruger EC9 pistols

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE EC9S

I’ll give you my pros first, of which I think there are plenty. After shooting a moderate amount of ammunition through this little gun, I was impressed with its reliability. Through all the rounds fired, I don’t think there were more than a few stoppages. All of which I am quite confident were user induced. The little Ruger just seems to shoot.

I am certainly no pistol marksman, but I found it was pretty easy to hit what I was aiming at. The same went for my wife, and what I think she perhaps enjoyed most was hitting what she aimed at.

With a price point around $280 over the counter, this little gun is easily attained. I was worried its price point would dictate much of the quality, but the handsome collection of color options and other features seem to make it worthwhile. The larger 10-round magazine made the gun much easier for me to shoot, while my better half was happy with either magazine length.

SOME STONES TO THROW

There are a few cons that I would point out, but I am ready to admit that many of them are fairly subjective. First of all, I’d address the stiffness of the pistol, it’s not very big, so there isn’t a lot to hold onto and purchase. The strong pull of the recoil spring also made it very difficult to operate the slide release, to the point that I nearly quit using it entirely and simply pulled the slide to release. Many will say that’s better anyway, so it may be a moot point for you.

I don’t really use safeties, especially on carry guns. But this safety actually took a second to figure out, the natural motion for me was to swipe at it with my thumb a la 1911. But the safety actually pivots from the front, so I had to make a conscious motion to push and pull at the rear of the safety. Not a big deal, and it’s something I could simply learn if needs be.

I spoke about the orange dummy magazine that came with the gun. Its sole purpose is to aid in disassembling the pistol. You use the magazine as part of the safe deactivation and takedown. Again, probably not a huge deal, but something worth mentioning.

I already mentioned I would have liked a shorter and lighter trigger. But I am also perfectly willing to concede that concealed carry guns are probably better off with longer and even heavier pulls. My last two gripes are perhaps the most subjective and probably due to my hand construction.

I found the mag release to be just a tad awkward to reach with my thumb. It took a very deliberate motion to release the magazine. Again, this may be by design, so you don’t drop your mag in a gunfight or while leaning against the counter at the convenience store.

Lastly, I would really prefer to have more than 10 rounds available in a carry pistol, but I also understand there are compromises.

CONCLUSION

I frequently carry a full-size pistol. Compared to that, this little pistol is a fresh breath of air and a much smaller pain in the waist. The single-stack design of the pistol and its compact size seem to square up the grip area some. This felt to me just a little less comfortable than I’d like, but these are just one person’s opinions.

All things considered, I think the EC9s is a decent choice. I like the gun more than I expected to. The price point makes it an extremely easy pistol to get into carrying. The various safeties and its small size also make it an easy choice for newcomers to the concealed carry gang. I think it punches at its price point. But you won’t want to compare it with something like a Sig P239.

Now that you’ve heard my opinion, go check one of these out. If you drive a diesel, it may cost you more to get to the gun shop than to pick up a Ruger EC9s.

-CBM

If you like this review, check out our other pistol reviews

Inrtoduction

There comes a time in a guys life, where he has to choose between a couple different ways of living. Whether its gym membership or a hiking regiment we make choices that effect our future activities. While many of these choices are about the mundane and everyday tasks we engage in, some of them can be life-changing, like whether we carry a gun, or a pocketknife.

You clicked on a backpack article right? Well the Eberlestock Cherry Bomb is in fact the subject of this article, but we are going to talk about how a backpack choice can effect your life.

Eberlestock is well known for making top-quality backpacks and other outdoor gear. While their products are probably most popular among outdoor types like hunters and backcountry hikers, they are also quite popular with just plain gun folk. I first heard of them years ago when my brother bought one of their Gunslinger backpacks, so when the time came for this project, my eyes turned toward Eberlestock.

Carrying a gun is a big deal that hopefully everybody takes with extreme responsibility, but there are many who take it to the next level. Your reasons might be professional such as public service or private security, or you might just work in the firearms industry or play with a lot of guns. On a day to day basis, a person not unlike myself might usually have a pistol and a rifle or two. One of those weapons should be ready to party at any given minute, and as a superior option to a handgun I would prefer the rifle. I wanted to see if the Cherry Bomb pack from Eberlestock would be suitable for an every-day carry backpack.
Having a rifle close and ready can certainly provide you with the upper hand should you need it, so after doing some measuring and research I decided to get a Cherry Bomb for my Desert Tech MDRX Micron.

The Cherry Bomb

The Cherry Bomb is a multiple compartment backpack that could easily be mistaken for a nice laptop carrier. It has an internal space of twenty-four inches by eleven inches wide, and has several dividers for storing assorted organized “things” inside. The pack comes with a removable waist-belt should you choose to use it, and it is available in a few different color schemes which don’t scream “Gun Inside”. The shoulder-straps are well padded and adjustable to fit most anyone, I chose to remove the waist-belt mainly because I don’t need it for carrying it on a daily routine.

Like all Eberlestock packs it is extremely well built, strong stitching and tough seams and zippers make it very robust and reliable to open and keep closed. There are two small zippered compartments at the bottom on each side, as well as a cunningly placed rainfly stowed in the very bottom. The interior of the pack has several dividers for keeping things like laptops from getting rubbed against your rifle. It also has some internal pockets for keeping small things like those you’d keep in your pants-pocket, but you have a backpack now. Next to the rigid weapon compartment there are also two pockets that are just right for holding extra magazines, complete with bungee retention.

The Grey man

I wont bore you with the grey man theory but to mention that the Cherry Bomb is a good start to your grey man kit. As I mentioned above it could easily be mistaken for a computer carrier or biking backpack. Carrying a concealed rifle around is easy with this pack, and you can do it with comfort and without attracting attention.

Stowing my rifle

Opening up the Cherry Bomb for the first time, I was excited to see if my measurements had been correct. I had my short-barreled MDRX ready to load up, and I was excited to see that not only would the rifle fit, but even with a shorty suppressor installed I could just squeeze it in. With a low profile red dot installed on the rifle, and a loaded 20 round magazine, the MDRX Micron SBR dropped right in. I stuck two additional thirty-round magazines into the pockets, as well as some other things that go well with a little rifle and zipped it up. The pack features zipper pull-tabs, and they are built well just like everything else. I zipped them both up to the middle-top of the pack, and decided to go for a walk. With a couple water bottles added to the outer pocket, I figure it probably weighed around fifteen pounds with all my gear comfortably stowed. The Cherry Bomb could easily carry much more weight comfortably, especially if you use the waist belt. Using only the shoulder straps for support I found it to be quite tolerable, and without the waist-belt it was still easy to maneuver and quickly remove the pack.

Just as important, I wanted to see how quickly I could pull my rifle from the bag, and be ready to shoot should such a need arise.
With both zipper-pulls at the top, I found it easy to “peel” the pack open like a banana, and the rifle was easily extracted by either pulling at the butt-hook of the stock, or just grabbing the sling and pulling it out. I also tried slinging the pack off of the shoulders and around the front using the waist-belt to keep my entire kit attached, which also worked out as a suitable option. After a little practice, either way I did it made for a fairly quick deployment. This is where the benefits of the bullpup MDRX were most apparent, most AR15 and similar SBR’s need either a folding stock, or be of the collapsible type. This requires an additional step upon removing the rifle from the bag, but my little Micron is ready to go with a slap of the charging handles as soon as its free.

The Cherry Bomb (center bottom) is a perfect fit for stashing your SBR

The Cherry bomb quickly became a briefcase for me, traveling to and from the office with me every day. Easily stored documents and other everyday items were also stashed inside. To be completely honest, it almost seemed like a little bit of light duty for the Cherry Bomb. But the opportunity to put it into another role would soon arrive.

The Hunt

With the local deer and elk hunts inbound, I saw the opportunity to test a couple things using the Cherry Bomb. I have backpacks all over, but my wife would be coming along on this hunting trip as well. I figured the comfy straps of the little Eberlestock might make her day a little more pleasant. So as opening day arrived, I cinched the shoulder straps way down to fit her petite shoulders and replaced the waist belt. We were only planning on being out for the day, with hopes of getting our hands on an elk. But because anything can happen, she loaded up the Cherry Bomb with all kinds of gear.
She wanted her thermos of hot tea, water bottles, plenty of snacks, extra jacket, knives, ammo for her rifle, and of course an emergency shit-kit and so on. All the things she thought we may need fit snugly into the little pack, and she slung her rifle over the shoulder strap.
Its a good thing she went prepared that morning, as she was seconds away from plugging her first elk. But instead we ended up packing out a deer, and by the time we made it back to the vehicles we had exhausted the snacks, water, and even the tea. They were replaced by a rifle and some backstraps. All the while I kept asking her how she liked the pack, and if she was comfortable. It was quite apparent from her attitude that the pack was indeed comfortable, and I had to wrestle it from her the following weekend to take it hunting myself.

Results

Part of the reason I went with the Eberlestock from the beginning was because I was confident I would like it. With their well known reputation for quality, my assumption that they would think it through was correct. The Cherry Bomb is an excellent backpack, whether you are using it to stow your daily rifle, as something to carry your daily effects to work, or to haul pieces of game from the bottom of a steep canyon draw. It’s adaptability to a variety of uses is perhaps it’s strongest point. I love carrying it wherever I go, knowing that readiness waits inside the Cherry Bomb.

-CBM